Another prayer from The Valley of Vision.
My God,
Thou has helped me to see,
that whatever good be in honour and
rejoicing, how good is he who gives them,
and can withdraw them;
that blessedness does not lie so much
in receiving good from and in thee,
but in holding forth thy glory and virtue;
that it is an amazing things to see Deity
in a creature, speaking, acting,
filling, shining through it;
that nothing is good but thee,
that I am near good when I am near thee,
that to be like thee is a glorious thing;
This is my magnet, my attraction.
Thou art all my good in times of peace,
my only support in days of trouble,
my one sufficiency when life shall end.
Help me to see how good thy will is in all,
and even when it crosses mine
teach me to be pleased with it.
Grant me to feel thee in fire, and food and every providence,
and to see that thy many gifts and creatures
are but thy hands and fingers taking hold of me.
Thou bottomless fountain of all good
I give myself to thee out of love,
for all I have or own is thine,
my goods, family, church, self,
to do with as thou wilt,
to honor thyself by me, and by all mine.
If it be consistent with thy eternal counsels,
the purpose of thy grace,
and the great ends of thy glory,
then bestow upon me the blessings of thy comforts;
If not, let me resign myself to
thy wiser determinations.
(That's a hard thing to pray sometimes.)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Friday, January 22, 2010
last day
Urbana 09 - Part VI
Thursday was so busy that I didn't write a blog post about it at the time, but here are some of the highlights as I remember them now:
1. Thinking about the solidarity dinner. For Wednesday's dinner we were served a meager portion of beans, pita, and water. It was not tasty. It was not filling. It did not quench my thirst. But it was a better meal than most of the people on this planet get in a day. I've spent some time thinking about that, and I've decided that the way I approach food needs to change. There is no reason why justice and thanksgiving should not be primary in the way I eat.
2. I went to another forum on homosexuality and the church. The man who spoke had compelling and well-researched points about how barriers between the LGBT community and the church have been built. He also has some great ideas about how we can build bridges between the communities. My thoughts about the issue of homosexuality have been changing... I wish I could present these ideas to my churches, and I wish there was a place for LBTQs in the congregations I attend.
3. I spent some time this afternoon in the reflective prayer room. God cemented my vision of who I am to be, and is helping me conquer my fear of His plans. I don't have much to say publicly about this -- but it was profoundly powerful, intensely personal, and is impacting everything.
4. I found a school in Albania that needs a librarian. We'll see.
5. Tonight I shared communion with 17,000 people, then rang in the new year with the biggest party I've ever been part of. We shouted and sang songs in all kinds of languages; we danced. At midnight we were all singing "I AM REDEEMED!" at the top of our lungs. And when the folks on stage finally persuaded us to leave, we spilled out onto the streets of St. Louis, still singing. It was a parade, a spectacle, and it was fantastic.
Thursday was so busy that I didn't write a blog post about it at the time, but here are some of the highlights as I remember them now:
1. Thinking about the solidarity dinner. For Wednesday's dinner we were served a meager portion of beans, pita, and water. It was not tasty. It was not filling. It did not quench my thirst. But it was a better meal than most of the people on this planet get in a day. I've spent some time thinking about that, and I've decided that the way I approach food needs to change. There is no reason why justice and thanksgiving should not be primary in the way I eat.
2. I went to another forum on homosexuality and the church. The man who spoke had compelling and well-researched points about how barriers between the LGBT community and the church have been built. He also has some great ideas about how we can build bridges between the communities. My thoughts about the issue of homosexuality have been changing... I wish I could present these ideas to my churches, and I wish there was a place for LBTQs in the congregations I attend.
3. I spent some time this afternoon in the reflective prayer room. God cemented my vision of who I am to be, and is helping me conquer my fear of His plans. I don't have much to say publicly about this -- but it was profoundly powerful, intensely personal, and is impacting everything.
4. I found a school in Albania that needs a librarian. We'll see.
5. Tonight I shared communion with 17,000 people, then rang in the new year with the biggest party I've ever been part of. We shouted and sang songs in all kinds of languages; we danced. At midnight we were all singing "I AM REDEEMED!" at the top of our lungs. And when the folks on stage finally persuaded us to leave, we spilled out onto the streets of St. Louis, still singing. It was a parade, a spectacle, and it was fantastic.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
more stories
Urbana 09 - Part V
This morning, more than 400 people stood up and publicly committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
This evening, about 7000 people stood up and publicly committed themselves to cross-cultural missions.
I fit in neither group, but today God started bringing the pieces together for me. He has reaffirmed my personal mission and my identity in Him. He’s led me into horrifying recognition of my shortcomings and also reaffirmed the fact that his love for me does not vacillate with my personal righteousness.
God has given me new awareness… Of his work in the world. Of the injustices that abound and the ways I can help mitigate them. Of the people in my life that I can love better. Of the redeeming work of Jesus. Of how a young librarian can be used to forward the gospel of Christ.
I did not fill out a response card tonight. I don’t yet know if my way lies in cross-cultural missions. But I know who I am and what my purpose is, even if the path is not yet clear.
It’s been a pretty good day.
This morning, more than 400 people stood up and publicly committed their lives to Jesus Christ.
This evening, about 7000 people stood up and publicly committed themselves to cross-cultural missions.
I fit in neither group, but today God started bringing the pieces together for me. He has reaffirmed my personal mission and my identity in Him. He’s led me into horrifying recognition of my shortcomings and also reaffirmed the fact that his love for me does not vacillate with my personal righteousness.
God has given me new awareness… Of his work in the world. Of the injustices that abound and the ways I can help mitigate them. Of the people in my life that I can love better. Of the redeeming work of Jesus. Of how a young librarian can be used to forward the gospel of Christ.
I did not fill out a response card tonight. I don’t yet know if my way lies in cross-cultural missions. But I know who I am and what my purpose is, even if the path is not yet clear.
It’s been a pretty good day.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Living Word
Urbana 09 - Part IV
Today’s highlights, in brief:
1. Studying about the Wedding in Cana with the 200 other members of my small group. Amazing insights. Much more there than I ever understood before, just layers and layers of God’s awesomeness. I love it when symbolism and prophecy from all over the Bible surprise me in a little story I thought I knew. I love the look on people’s faces when they see it come together, like a 2D picture that pops into 3D all at once.
2. A session on contemplation. The speaker led us through 14 different contemplative disciplines to try. He contrasted them in ways that intrigued me. He recommended lots of books. And he ended the session with a ten minute guided prayer time. Fantastic.
3. Both speakers tonight addressed the sacrifices we are called to make as followers of Christ. Sacrifices such as living generously, tending to our needs but being modest with our wants, and taking on the same humility that Christ took upon himself in the incarnation. I think I might buy the DVD of this session – ask me about it if you’re interested.
Tomorrow is a relatively open day at Urbana. Before asking us to make commitments tomorrow night, they have scheduled a whole afternoon for prayer, contemplation, and exploration of missions opportunities. I have yet to figure out just why God wanted me to come this week, but I’m looking forward to some kind of revelation.
Today’s highlights, in brief:
1. Studying about the Wedding in Cana with the 200 other members of my small group. Amazing insights. Much more there than I ever understood before, just layers and layers of God’s awesomeness. I love it when symbolism and prophecy from all over the Bible surprise me in a little story I thought I knew. I love the look on people’s faces when they see it come together, like a 2D picture that pops into 3D all at once.
2. A session on contemplation. The speaker led us through 14 different contemplative disciplines to try. He contrasted them in ways that intrigued me. He recommended lots of books. And he ended the session with a ten minute guided prayer time. Fantastic.
3. Both speakers tonight addressed the sacrifices we are called to make as followers of Christ. Sacrifices such as living generously, tending to our needs but being modest with our wants, and taking on the same humility that Christ took upon himself in the incarnation. I think I might buy the DVD of this session – ask me about it if you’re interested.
Tomorrow is a relatively open day at Urbana. Before asking us to make commitments tomorrow night, they have scheduled a whole afternoon for prayer, contemplation, and exploration of missions opportunities. I have yet to figure out just why God wanted me to come this week, but I’m looking forward to some kind of revelation.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
about that
Urbana 09 -- Part III
I’m beginning to understand the Urbana-is-life-changing thing. It’s slightly overwhelming.
Since this is a highlights reel and not a third-grade book report, here’s a bit about what is rocking my world:
The evangelism track of seminars includes a bunch of sessions about homosexuality and the way the church and gospel relate to GLBTQ people. One such session was led today by a conservative, fundamentalist Christian who has been living with gay people, immersed in gay culture, for the last ten years. He talked about how we should respond to the big questions: Was I born this way? Can I be gay and Christian? Am I going to hell? (and others). He spoke with more relevance, truth, and understanding, and with fiercer love, than I’ve ever seen anyone bring to the topic.
In some ways, the lessons I’ve been learning about loving gay people were reinforced. In other ways, my entire paradigm was rocked. I’m still processing it.
In our main session tonight, two speakers and a number of dancers and dramatists brought messages about displaced people groups and human trafficking. The statistics are worse than I could have imagined; the stories are more devastating than I can comprehend. Poverty. Slavery. Forced prostitution. Millions of lives. And but for the grace of God, I am one of them.
I’m not sure what decision this awareness will elicit in me, but I’m no longer satisfied with my former justice agenda of avoiding Wal-Mart – unless their prices were just too good to pass up. I don’t want my comfortable prosperity to rest on the shoulders of slavery and injustice.
One last thought: A speaker tonight suggested that we should live to be forgotten. That we should spend our whole lives lavishly for the gospel. That when people remember us, they should be able to see nothing but Jesus. In this celebrity and legacy-driven culture, the idea is intriguing.
Lots to think about.
I’m beginning to understand the Urbana-is-life-changing thing. It’s slightly overwhelming.
Since this is a highlights reel and not a third-grade book report, here’s a bit about what is rocking my world:
The evangelism track of seminars includes a bunch of sessions about homosexuality and the way the church and gospel relate to GLBTQ people. One such session was led today by a conservative, fundamentalist Christian who has been living with gay people, immersed in gay culture, for the last ten years. He talked about how we should respond to the big questions: Was I born this way? Can I be gay and Christian? Am I going to hell? (and others). He spoke with more relevance, truth, and understanding, and with fiercer love, than I’ve ever seen anyone bring to the topic.
In some ways, the lessons I’ve been learning about loving gay people were reinforced. In other ways, my entire paradigm was rocked. I’m still processing it.
In our main session tonight, two speakers and a number of dancers and dramatists brought messages about displaced people groups and human trafficking. The statistics are worse than I could have imagined; the stories are more devastating than I can comprehend. Poverty. Slavery. Forced prostitution. Millions of lives. And but for the grace of God, I am one of them.
I’m not sure what decision this awareness will elicit in me, but I’m no longer satisfied with my former justice agenda of avoiding Wal-Mart – unless their prices were just too good to pass up. I don’t want my comfortable prosperity to rest on the shoulders of slavery and injustice.
One last thought: A speaker tonight suggested that we should live to be forgotten. That we should spend our whole lives lavishly for the gospel. That when people remember us, they should be able to see nothing but Jesus. In this celebrity and legacy-driven culture, the idea is intriguing.
Lots to think about.
He dwelled among us
Urbana - Part II
I think the only criticism I have of Urbana so far is that I have a niggling doubt about that slogan. Is “dwelled” proper English? Somehow “dwelt” sounds more correct, but it’s probably one of those either-way things. I’ll check once the internet is back up at my hotel.
I’ve taken some time to look over the seminar booklet, and I’m having trouble choosing which to attend. There are 43 options during the first seminar time, and there are two seminars each day. Most of them do not repeat, so I’ve really got to choose. Here’s what I’ve narrowed it down to for today:
Advocacy 101: Advocacy for the Poor is Biblical
Practical Justice 101: Basic Strategies to Transform Your Community
Conversational Evangelism Tools
Homosexuality: Answering the Tough Questions on Sexuality
Serving Christ as a Professor: 10 Things You Need to Know
Towards a Biblical Understanding of Poverty
I wish ALL my friends and family were here, since I’ve picked out sessions for everyone: Mission to the Scientific World, Contemplatives in the Midst of Life, the Missional Church and Worship, even Water Sanitation in Community Development.
Can you tell I’m excited?
I’ve taken some time to look over the seminar booklet, and I’m having trouble choosing which to attend. There are 43 options during the first seminar time, and there are two seminars each day. Most of them do not repeat, so I’ve really got to choose. Here’s what I’ve narrowed it down to for today:
Advocacy 101: Advocacy for the Poor is Biblical
Practical Justice 101: Basic Strategies to Transform Your Community
Conversational Evangelism Tools
Homosexuality: Answering the Tough Questions on Sexuality
Serving Christ as a Professor: 10 Things You Need to Know
Towards a Biblical Understanding of Poverty
I wish ALL my friends and family were here, since I’ve picked out sessions for everyone: Mission to the Scientific World, Contemplatives in the Midst of Life, the Missional Church and Worship, even Water Sanitation in Community Development.
Can you tell I’m excited?
Sunday, January 17, 2010
"it will change your life"
This is the first in a series of posts written while I was at the Urbana 09 conference last month.
Urbana 09, Part I
I’m writing tonight from a well-appointed hotel room in the heart of St. Louis, MO. I can see the arch from my window, and my imagination flies to Tom Sawyer whenever I think about the river running below it.
I’m in St. Louis for Urbana, a huge missions conference that takes place here every three years. About 17,000 college-and-twenty-somethings are in town to spend a week learning about Christianity, global missions, justice, evangelism, and all kinds of related issues. There are entire seminar tracks about art and music, domestic poverty, justice, environmentalism, academia, and about fifteen other topics. 2/3 of the countries of the world are represented. Virtually every missions organization has a booth in the exhibition center.
Everyone says Urbana will change your life. I’m not really sure what that means for me, but I’m excited to find out.
The theme for Urbana this year is John 1:14, which happens to be one of my favorite verses of all time.
Poetry. Power. Life. And the word “dwelling,” which rocks.
Over the next five days, we’ll be studying John chapters 1-4 in large and small group sessions, hearing expositional sermons on each section, attending seminars, visiting themed lounges for people with varied interests, spending time in prayer rooms, hearing from missionaries and storytellers, exploring missions agencies and opportunities, and meeting with small groups – in my case my two roommates – to spend time discussing and praying about what we’re learning and hearing from God.
That’s the other thing that people say about Urbana – it’s like trying to drink from a fire hydrant.
I’m excited to worship with 17,000 believers. I’m excited to hear about what is going on in the world. I’m excited to be focused outside myself to the greater kingdom of God. And I’m excited about being challenged to participate in the kingdom in ways I’m not quite prepared for.
God became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
It doesn’t get much better than that. And yes, it’s going to change my life.
PS: And yes, I’m excited about all the books that are 25-75% off in the InterVarsity Press bookstore
Urbana 09, Part I
I’m writing tonight from a well-appointed hotel room in the heart of St. Louis, MO. I can see the arch from my window, and my imagination flies to Tom Sawyer whenever I think about the river running below it.
I’m in St. Louis for Urbana, a huge missions conference that takes place here every three years. About 17,000 college-and-twenty-somethings are in town to spend a week learning about Christianity, global missions, justice, evangelism, and all kinds of related issues. There are entire seminar tracks about art and music, domestic poverty, justice, environmentalism, academia, and about fifteen other topics. 2/3 of the countries of the world are represented. Virtually every missions organization has a booth in the exhibition center.
Everyone says Urbana will change your life. I’m not really sure what that means for me, but I’m excited to find out.
The theme for Urbana this year is John 1:14, which happens to be one of my favorite verses of all time.
“God became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only, who came down from the Father full of grace and truth.”
Poetry. Power. Life. And the word “dwelling,” which rocks.
Over the next five days, we’ll be studying John chapters 1-4 in large and small group sessions, hearing expositional sermons on each section, attending seminars, visiting themed lounges for people with varied interests, spending time in prayer rooms, hearing from missionaries and storytellers, exploring missions agencies and opportunities, and meeting with small groups – in my case my two roommates – to spend time discussing and praying about what we’re learning and hearing from God.
That’s the other thing that people say about Urbana – it’s like trying to drink from a fire hydrant.
I’m excited to worship with 17,000 believers. I’m excited to hear about what is going on in the world. I’m excited to be focused outside myself to the greater kingdom of God. And I’m excited about being challenged to participate in the kingdom in ways I’m not quite prepared for.
God became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
It doesn’t get much better than that. And yes, it’s going to change my life.
PS: And yes, I’m excited about all the books that are 25-75% off in the InterVarsity Press bookstore
Friday, January 1, 2010
new year
Still processing Urbana. More from The Valley of Vision for today:
New Year
O Lord,
Length of days does not profit me except the days are passed in thy presence,
in thy service, to thy glory.
Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides, sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that I might not be one moment apart from thee,
but may rely on thy Spirit
to supply every thought,
speak in every word,
direct every step,
prosper every work,
build up every mote of faith,
and give me a desire
to show forth thy praise;
testify thy love,
advance thy kingdom.
I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year,
with thee, O Father, as my harbour,
thee, O Son, at my helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.
Guide me to heaven with my loins girt,
my lamp burning,
my ear open to thy calls,
my heart full of love,
my soul free.
Give me thy grace to sanctify me,
thy comforts to cheer,
thy wisdom to teach,
thy right hand to guide,
thy counsel to instruct,
thy law to judge,
thy presence to stabilize.
May thy fear by my awe,
thy triumphs my joy.
(Amen.)
New Year
O Lord,
Length of days does not profit me except the days are passed in thy presence,
in thy service, to thy glory.
Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides, sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that I might not be one moment apart from thee,
but may rely on thy Spirit
to supply every thought,
speak in every word,
direct every step,
prosper every work,
build up every mote of faith,
and give me a desire
to show forth thy praise;
testify thy love,
advance thy kingdom.
I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year,
with thee, O Father, as my harbour,
thee, O Son, at my helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.
Guide me to heaven with my loins girt,
my lamp burning,
my ear open to thy calls,
my heart full of love,
my soul free.
Give me thy grace to sanctify me,
thy comforts to cheer,
thy wisdom to teach,
thy right hand to guide,
thy counsel to instruct,
thy law to judge,
thy presence to stabilize.
May thy fear by my awe,
thy triumphs my joy.
(Amen.)
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